Journal of Applied and Natural Science
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Biodiversity of rodent fleas in plague endemic areas of India
Get PDFRodent fleas have been considered as the main vector for plague transmission in the rodent population and human plague outbreak usually occur due to the close association of infected rodent fleas with the human being. A total of 910 fleas were retrieved from the 2128 rodents collected from the different areas like Kolar, Palamner, Pune, Surat, Rohru and Chennai. Mainly two types of rodent fleas i.e. Xenopsyalla astia and X. cheopis were found in these areas except the Dodra Kawar area of H.P. state. In Dodra Kawar area Neopsylla kawar specieswere found and it was very sensitive to the temperature variation. Dodra kawar area usually remains under snow for about nine months and even in the rest of period the maximum temperature does not go more than 20oC. The distribution of X. astia and X. cheopis were found uneven. In surat of Gujarat state X. cheopis was predominantly high, whereas in rest of the area X. astia were found more. In Chennai the main species found was X. astia only. The female percent of rodent flea may be considered as a good indicator for the fast propagation of rodent flea. The breading season for the fleas mostly depends on the climatic condition like temperature below 22oC-25oC, humidity more than 70% even if the outside temperature is more still the shady area the favorable and do help in the survival of fleas. The rapid urbanization and mass use of pesticide in agriculture sector has got significant impact on the rodent flea population and development of resistance to pesticides
Effect of bioagent formulations on progress of bacterial leaf blight disease of rice under field conditions
Get PDFIn the present study, effectiveness of different fungal (Trichoderma harzianum) and bacterial (Pseudomonas fluorescens) bioagent formulations in reducing progress of the bacterial leaf blight disease of rice under field conditions was studied and compared with chemical treatment and untreated check. The results exhibited that after 23 to 30 days after first application, bioagent formulations were more effective then chemical treatment in reducing progress of disease. Bioagent formulations exhibited long lasting effect in reducing progress of disease during Kharif, 2006 and 2007. Application of bioagent formulations resulted in significant reduction (60.5 – 142.8%) in area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) as compared to check during Kharif, 2006 and 2007. Significant increase in grain yield (14.3 - 21.5 %) was observed with the application of bioagent formulations as compared to check during Kharif, 2006 and 2007
Effect of wood particle geometry and pre-treatments on the strength and sorption properties of cement-bonded particle boards
Get PDFThe effect of particle geometry and pretreatments on the strength and sorption properties of wood particle cement composite boards was investigated. Wood particles (flakes and sawdust) of Gmelina arborea were mixed with cement and water in the production of composite boards. The wood particles were pretreated with hot water, calcium chloride and a combination of both treatments to enhance bonding with cement. The slurry was poured into rectangular moulds for board formation. After demoulding, the boards formed were tested for modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE), water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS). The results revealed that the mean MOR for flakes boards was 3.23N mm-2 while the mean MOR for sawdust boards was 3.01N mm-2. Hot water and calcium chloride treatment produced the best effect in flake composite boards with MOR and MOE values of 6.90 N/mm2 and 1897.36 N mm-2 while sawdust composite boards had mean MOR and MOE values of 5.69N mm-2 and 1664.31N mm-2 respectively. The WA rate after 24 hours of flakes and sawdust boards treated with hot water and calcium chloride was 3.63% and 4.28% while the TS rate was 0.69% and 1.44% respectively. Particle geometry and pretreatments significantly improved strength and sorption properties of wood particle cement composite boards (p<0.05)
Biomethanated distillery spentwash and pressmud biocompost as sources of plant nutrients for groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)
Get PDFA field experiment was conducted to study the impact of biomethanated distillery spentwash and pressmud biocompost in various proportions with inorganic fertilizers on yield attributes, yield, oil and protein content of groundnut at Research and Development Farm of M/s. Bhavani Distilleries and Chemicals Ltd., T. Pudur, Thimiri, Tamil Nadu. Results of the field experiment revealed that yield and yield attributes viz., number of matured pods, 100 kernel weight and shelling percentage of groundnut were improved by the application of biomethanated distillery spentwash and pressmud biocompost compared to recommended NPK as chemical fertilizers. One-time pre-sown application of BDS @ 100 m3ha-1 along with recommended NP in groundnut registered higher pod, grain and haulm yield of 1774, 1272 and 4668 kg ha-1, respectively and the increase was to the tune of 35.83, 43.57 and 46.01 per cent, respectively over control. Similar to yield, BDS application increased the protein and oil content of groundnut kernels significantly. The net returns and benefit cost ratio of sugarcane were also as high as Rs.19,612 ha-1 and 1.90 for the treatment that received pre-sown application of BDS @ 100 m3ha-1 along with recommended NP as compared to control of Rs.19,612 ha-1 and 1.38, respectively. This concludes that the biomethanated distillery spentwash can be conveniently used as source of plant nutrients for groundnut
Fish diversity of Laster stream, a major tributary of river Mandakini in Central Himalaya (India) with regard to altitude and habitat specificity of fishes
Get PDFLaster stream is a major tributary of river Mandakini, which in turn is a major tributary of river Alaknanda. Stream traverses a distance of ~40 km before joining with river Mandakini at Suryaprayag (Tilwara) in Rudraprayag district (Uttarakhand), India. Present study reports existence of twenty one indigenous fish species belonging to eight genera, three families and two orders from the Laster stream. Schizothorax richardsonii (Cyprinidae family) was the dominating species followed by S. plagiostomus, Barilius sp., Tor sp., Noemacheilus sp., Pseudecheneis sp., Glyptothorax sp. The distribution pattern (diversity and abundance) of these species had negative co-relation with the increase in stream altitude. Habitat conditions in the stream varied considerably from headwater to main stream. Present study also describes the habitat specificity of fish assemblage. Maximum species diversity (18 species) was recorded from pool habitat and was the most preferred habitat. Least species diversity (09 species) was recorded from cascade habitat. Riffle and rapid habitat recorded no difference in species diversity
Study of health and nutritional status of the workers working in knitting industry located at Kanpur, India
Get PDFKnitting industry occupies a pivotal position in the economic dynamism of various countries. The workers in the knitting industry suffer from various types of health risk factors. The risk in the knitting industry is higher and the ability to control it is lower. The majority of the problems are due to poor work environment, manual work condition and long hours of static working posture in the knitting industry. The present study was conducted to study the health and nutritional status of the workers in knitting industry, located in the city Kanpur, India. Body mass index (BMI) technique was used to study the health and nutritional status of the workers. The 300 workers of knitting industry from four different sectors (spinning, knitting, dyeing, and printing) of the industry who worked in a knitting sector were randomly selected from each unit of industry. The anthropometric measurements viz., height in cm, weight in kg of each respondent was recorded. The results revealed that the selected sample was suffering from occupational stress and health problems. Out of total 300 workers, majority of the respondents (22.00%) were in CED Grade III (Severe) category followed by 16.00% in CED grade IV (Moderate), 14.00% in low weight normal, 12.00% in CED Grade I (Mild), 11.00% in obese grade I and 10.00% in obese grade II. Only 17.00% respondents were observed under normal nutritional status. Thus, the respondents were suffering from occupational stress and health problems
Assessment of sustainable vermiconversion of water hyacinth by Eudrilus eugeniae and Eisenia fetida
Get PDFThe present work has assessed sustainable vermiconversion of aquatic weed water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes). The garden soil, water hyacinth and cow dung were taken in the following the combinations of 1: 2 : 1, 2: 1: 1 and 1 : 1: 2. Two species of earthworms Eudrilus eugeniae and Eisenia fetida was used for the experiment. The total nitrogen (0.18% in control and 1.68% in earthworm treated) and phosphate (0.63 % in control and 1.64 % in earthworm treated) levels were increased and toxic heavy metals zinc (7.66 ppm in control and 2.58 ppm in earthworm treated) and copper (6.68 ppm in control and 1.15 ppm in earthworm treated) were significantly decreased. The earthworm enriches the compost with various nutrients for plant and microbial growth. Plant growth studies were conducted in all the combination of water hyacinth, maximum growth of root length (8.9cm and 7.2 in control) and shoot length (21.6cm and 16.2 in control) observed compare to control. Gut microbial analysis revealed that Bacillus cereus, Micrococcus luteus were predominantly present in the earthworm. The study recommended that the aquatic weed compost was suitable of agricultural usage
Preliminary studies on pharmaceutical microencapsulation for synbiotic application
Get PDFThe solvent evaporation technique was used in this study to evaluate probiotics microencapsulation in AQOAT/ dichloromethane matrix and cell viability was also measured to assess its potentials in industrial food formulation processes. Cumulative release experiments using water blue dye as a model molecule was also used to evaluate the prebiotic applications. Well-defined spherical AQOAT microcapsules [50.0 ìm ± (24.14)] were formed from 5% AQOAT solution. Cells of Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus plantarum were successfully encapsulated with this technique. However, a 7 log and a 5 log reduction were recorded for B. breve and L. plantarum respectively after 60 min in buffer (P<0.05). Results of this study showed that 1% AQOAT solution lowered viability by 1 log and cell exposure to 10 ml dichloromethane resulted in a 3 log reduction, thus confirming bactericidal properties of both polymer and organic solvent. DCM was however shown to have more bactericidal effects on the cells (P<0.001). Cumulative release trials using 0.2% water blue dye solution showed a 40% loss and encapsulation efficiency (EE) of 73.8% (±14.76). It was recommended that viability counts using this technique be further evaluated using other organic solvents (such as ethyl acetate and chloroform) or other synthetic polymers so as to increase its applicability in the food industry
Seasonal status of density of phytoplanktons and zooplanktons in Gomti river of Lucknow (U.P.), India
Get PDFBiodiversity of river Gomti is heavily affected by pollution. Planktons are important biological parameters to access the pollution level. Zooplanktons are the source of food for higher organism and phytoplankton play important role in biosynthesis of organic material and influence the river ecosystem, aquatic food chain and water characteristic. The biological productivity as ecological indicator to identify the ecological quality of river Gomti. The phytoplankton density fluctuated maximum in between the range of (140-900 In/l) during monsoon season and minimum (40-140 In/l) during winter season. Zooplanktons were reported to be highest (168-220 In/l) during winter and lowest (114-155 In/l) during summer season. During study period the total of phytoplanktons (17 sp.) and zooplanktons (10 sp.) were noticed during different seasons. Present study concluded that seasonal differences of planktons density will help in further planning of water management and their use for beneficial purpose like agricultural, drinking for mankind
Description of a new species cephaline gregarine Stenophora bristili (Apicomplexa, Sporozoea) from Millipede (Chondromorpha severini) in Aurangabad district (M.S), India
Get PDFThe study of the endoparasitic cephaline gregarine in the gut content of millipede (Chondromorpha severini) was found to be infested with a new species (Stenophora bristili) of genus Stenophora (Labee, 1899). It differs from all the earlier reported species. The shape of the body of cephalont small elongated, slightly curved and rounded posterior end. Potomerite consists of fine bundle of bristles. The Sporont is elongated curved, slightly tapering and rounded posterior end, having brush like broader in between protomerite and deutomerite, Nucleus isspherical with ecentric karyosome. The different developmental stages including cephalont, sporont, gametocyst and sporocyst have been observed